Hungry Heart: Wild Striker

Both sports anime. Both male leads are self professing 'genius' at the sports, and have about the same character. The leads' group of friends even seem similar!  

Both shows follow a singular "ace" that progresses through tournaments and becomes increasingly better at soccer. Whistle is a little more on the realistic side (and also more childish), whereas Wild Striker has a few "super" moves, but is also more fun and for a slightly older audience. Young kids = Whistle, Older crowd = wild striker. 

main guy not liked at first and both are determined to lead the team to victory 

Well.. they are both about soccer. Aoki Densetsu Shoot is older though. But I gotta say Wild Striker is a lot more fun to watch.  

Both are sport anime with romance subplot. Both love interest in the respective romance are the reason the male main character started the sport in high school. The story in Baby Steps focuses on how the male main character grows as a tennis player through many different kind of training, while Hungry Heart focuses more on the male main character's acceptance of his bad experience in junior high and plays football again. 

Both male protagonists are a "genius" in their specified sport. However, they start off hopeless and grow with each game and each new encounter. Both of them are also very similar in character (hot-headed, dedicated, etc). Character development is evident in both but Major emphasizes this element more with each season (6 in total) as you see the protagonist Goro grow from a baby to an adult. Both contain similar themes and have a mutual love interest. If you enjoy the sport, you'll love the anime.  

This title has also be written and drawn by Captain Tsubasa's author. NEVERTHELESS... There are no Tsubasa Ozoras around to be the stars in this anime. Just guys who have to try hard in order to win. Failure is part of progressing. This show is ideal for those who were really mad because of the fact everything was always perfect in Captain Tsubasa. In my opinion, the author did this on purpose! lol 

This is something i personally think. Not many people even know of Hungry Heart, which is just sad. It's a fact, that this is the best football anime ever made, and none other comes close to that, sadly. It has such good quality and at the same time, the humor/comedy is quite similar to Hajime no Ippo's one. They are both hilariously overdrawn slapstick comedies and have geniusly loveable characters. If you loved Ippo, Hungry Heart definitely won't disappoint you. And if you watched Hungry Heart first, well, then go ahead and watch Ippo. It's as good as Hungry Heart and even better. 

One of the mc in both are similar. They both are very passionate sport animes. 

Both heavily focus on shounen and comedy. The male protagonists both start off hopeless as they are plunged into a new world (Kyosuke with Soccer and Luffy in the Grand Line). However, they grow and gain new friends and rivals along their journey.  

Both are about football. Both main characters have a lot of passion and fight hard/train for their goals. Both have a girl supporting the main character 

Both are about football and can also be categorized as 'high school anime', something the creator of this series purposely left out of Captain Tsubasa. It deals with relationships (both romantic and friendship), growing and learning about football as the series goes. 

to avoid spoiler ill not explain every detail.. they are both comedy, decent story, hardworking, they have some kind of powers which is really far from reality and the anime should be that way "fantasy".. 

Both sports animes about an immensely gifted son and all the effort, work and sacrifice it takes to live up to his own potential. (I put the recommendation on S2 of Major because of the age similarity, but you should start at S1 if you're going to!) 

I always knew Hungry Heart and Captain Tsubasa had some relation. Later, I found out it was created by the same person! Hungry Heart is an anime I totally loved and still love as football is my favorite sport! It's story shows courage and determination like you'll never see it! Totally recommended! ^^ 

Both plots follow the dreams of a pair of brothers. While the roles of the younger and older brother are exchanged in Hungry Heart, their individual paths and struggles to glory remain oddly similar to those in Space brothers. Wild Striker is shorter and has less time to develop characters and foreshadow plot twists, but delivers a feel and atmosphere strikingly similar to Space Brothers.  

Nice soccer shows, works of the same author. They look like a remake, Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002 is a "childish" version of Hungry Heart: Wild Striker. 

both try to achieve their dream to become a professional soccer/tennis player and try to lead their team to win the national. also both have to overcome their difficult pf facing many different teams. both player are very talented and have many potential to become stronger.... 

Both have a hotheaded protagonist with superior strength and just loves beating the crap out of those who piss them off. Though they do have a totally different plot (One being a quasi-teacher of a class full of delinquents and the other a student and his football club life) But seriously, those two lead characters are like reincarnation of each other in different animes! The way they talk, behave, troubles others, and how they use their superior strength to solve any problems they face. So the point is, if you idolize one of the protagonist in those anime, you'll surely love the other as well!